Description

This is the side of the rock that one initially encounters upon entering Real Hidden Valley proper. Nice brown rock with quite a few thin slanting cracks mark the characteristics of this side of Sport Challenge Rock. Relative to the East Face, this wall gets the lion share of sun.

Getting There

Enter the Real Hidden Valley via the south and look for a huge grey and tan bulbous rock in the center of the loop trail. Approach via a well-worn trail from the south, which splits to go to the east face (right) or west face (left). Some easy scrambling is required to reach the base of a few of the routes.

On the southern end of the west side of Sports Challenge Rock there are two moderate but steep cracks. These ascend the shorter end of the rock for about 40 to 50 feet. Juggy holds pepper the area, making the otherwise steep climbing not so difficult.Both climbs have a few awkward moves and a few places where palcing protection might be a little bit difficult; they may not be ideal first leads for a beginner.Ranger J.B. is the right-most of the two cracks, which is climbed out off of t...[more]Browse More Classics in CA